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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26102722">you may now k(xxx) the bride</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/etoilette/pseuds/etoilette'>etoilette</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AU-gust 2020 [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Assassination Attempt(s), M/M, Marriage Proposal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:48:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,989</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26102722</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/etoilette/pseuds/etoilette</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aside from what he looks like in a photograph, Kurusu Akira only knows three things about his fiance:</p><p>1) His name is Akechi Goro.<br/>2) He is the illegitimate son of Shido Masayoshi, but he was recently acknowledged as a proper heir to the Shido Corporation.<br/>3) He doesn’t know how to cook.</p><p>OR</p><p>To secure a better foothold and business agreement, the Kurusu family and the Shido family decide to let their respective sons Akira and Goro get married. It's not the picture perfect union that Akira's always imagined, unfortunately.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AU-gust 2020 [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860436</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>214</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Part I</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for Day #23 of AU-gust: Arranged Marriages AU. It was either this idea or one that involves explicit fic, and I need to save my horny writing energy for some stuff later in August ahaha. This idea is LONG, and I unfortunately had to cut it at a very strange spot because I don't think I'd be able to explore it properly in one chapter and in one day. I've split it up into three chapters, but in terms of planning, I could probably finish this up in one more chapter.</p><p>If you talk to me in the 21+ Server then you probably know what this fic is going to be, and I apologize right now for how strange it reads, because I am setting up the beginning of Akira and Goro's marriage. It's the next chapter where it really gets into the meat of it all.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aside from what he looks like in a photograph, Kurusu Akira only knows three things about his fiance:</p><ol>
<li>His name is Akechi Goro.</li>
<li>He is the illegitimate son of Shido Masayoshi, but he was recently acknowledged as a proper heir to the Shido Corporation.</li>
<li>He doesn’t know how to cook.</li>
</ol><p>The last point isn’t very flattering, and the distasteful look on the face of the man who tells Akira this shows that even in the Shido Corporation, it’s something that’s viewed as a disappointment and an embarrassment.</p><p>“Akechi-san is amazing,” the man gushes, despite the sneer on his face. “He’s a very suitable husband for the new CEO of KTS Trust.”</p><p>“I’m sure he is,” Akira’s mother coos. </p><p>“I’m very excited to marry him,” Akira says in a monotone. “I’m sure this union will only mean good things between Shido Corporation and KTS Trust.”</p><p>“Oh, yes, most definitely,” the man says. “Even if he can’t cook, he does have enough money to buy food.”</p><p>In Akira’s opinion, it’s not that big a deal. If he recalls correctly, Goro had been an orphan prior to being formally recognized and taken in by Shido. He isn't entirely sure how Goro could have survived on his own without money and the ability to cook. He doesn't even know Goro yet but he already hopes that Shido gave him the best money could buy in terms of professional chefs and gourmet food after he was finally taken into the Shido mansion.</p><p>“It’s alright,” Akira’s mother giggles. “Our Akira is quite good at cooking. Aren’t you, dear?”</p><p>Akira bows his head and meets the eyes of the Shido Corporation lackey. “Yes,” he says as firmly and authoritatively as he can. “I’ve been trained in Japanese and French cuisines, and I specialize in kaiseki.”</p><p>His curry is to die for, but most rich families don't consider curry a particularly interesting or impressive meal unless it's somehow been deconstructed or stuffed into a pigeon.</p><p>He doesn’t get to formally meet Akechi Goro until they arrive at the courthouse to sign the wedding papers together. He’s more built than he looked in the pictures, but not in a way that suggests he would be very physically powerful in anyway. He doesn't remember reading much in terms of exercise or sports in the papers that Shido Corporation gave the Kurusu family, but judging by the way the muscle clings to his body, he supposes that he probably cycles in his free time.</p><p>Goro gives Akira a smile that is very pleasant to look at, with his eyebrows raised just so and his lips stretched just enough. It looks like Akira’s looking at a stock photo, or at a dictionary definition of a ‘smile.’</p><p>“Hello, it’s very nice to finally meet you,” Goro says. “My name is Akechi Goro. Though I suppose I’ll be taking on the name Kurusu…?”</p><p>“Ah,” Akira rubs the back of his head and bows quickly. Goro mirrors the action. “No, you can keep the surname ‘Akechi’ if you want. It’s not as if this is a formal wedding or anything. My name is Kurusu Akira, by the way, and it’s very nice to meet you.”</p><p>Goro raises an eyebrow. “We may not be having a wedding ceremony, but I still did choose you to be my husband.”</p><p><em> Did you really? </em> Akira wants to ask. <em> Or did your father choose for you? </em></p><p>“And I’m eternally grateful for that,” Akira says with a smile.</p><p>He reaches out and signs his name with a flourish. Goro takes the pen from him and writes his name cleanly and clearly. He does not take on the Kurusu name, nor did he take on the Shido name. The surname Akechi clearly means a great deal to Goro but Akira knows there are discontented rumblings among the higher-ups in KTS Trust and his family on how the arranged marriage to secure a proper business and political relationship didn't seem to work. As if the only thing that binds a married couple together is a shared name. The resolve that Goro has to preserve the last remnants of his mother is endearing.</p><p>With that one action, Kurusu Akira and Akechi Goro are now married -- husband and husband. Somehow, it’s not the glamorously romantic affair that Akira always imagined in his head as a child. For some reason, he always imagined his wedding would have a bit more fanfare and crying and joy, but he supposes that when you’re an adult, you’re supposed to discard of such stupid childish dreams.</p><p>“You’re so lucky,” the lady behind the booth says with a smile as she takes their wedding documents and puts it into a folder. “He’s so handsome.”</p><p>Akira isn’t sure who she’s talking to or about, and he doesn’t really want to know. Instead, he reaches out with his hand and takes Goro’s in it. Together, side by side, they walk out of the courthouse and into their new lives.</p><p>They move into a condo in downtown Tokyo -- right in the middle between KTS Trust and Shido Corporation's HQs. Akira decided from an early stage to have an apartment that could overlook the city. There's something about seeing all the lights at night, a perfect symbol of how Tokyo really is the city that just never sleeps, that fills Akira with a sort of joy. It's a joy that he feels every time he scrolls on Twitter and sees how someone invented wheelchairs for dogs, or how a group of people band together to help fish a child's teddy bear out of a river. The warmth of experiencing humanity at its best -- the passion, the connections, and the ingenuity -- is encapsulated in the artificial stars.</p><p>Goro's only input on where they live was in that he wants a place with only one bedroom. When asked if he has any other preferences, he shook his head. When pressed if there was any particular request with the bedroom, he shook his head as well. It was a bit strange at the time, but Akira figured that if Goro grew up an orphan, he probably didn't have many choices in where he could stay. In retrospect, though, it was the first sign that the union was not going to be as harmonious as first believed.</p><p>Life with Goro is, to put it as nicely as possible, monotonous as hell.</p><p>When Goro’s family said he can’t cook, they weren’t joking. He only knows how to make a total of three meals — a breakfast, a lunch, and a dinner — and they’re all extremely bland. It got to the point where even thinking about having to eat Goro’s breakfast —instant miso soup, plain toast, and a “salad” of arugula dumped into a sea of balsamic vinaigrette — one more time made Akira practically break out in hives.</p><p>One day he shooed Goro away from the kitchen and spent almost an hour after work painstakingly putting together a proper meal of scallop risotto and lobster miso soup. Even on a normal day, Akira would have considered his cooking to have been a roaring success, but after weeks and months of living off of Goro’s cuisine, he admits that he almost teared up.</p><p>Goro took one bite of the risotto. One sip of the miso. Smiled and said, “It’s delicious, Akira,” and that was it. It’s the same thing he always says with his own cooking.</p><p>He wouldn't go as far as to say that he's the type of home chef so good that he could make his own YouTube channel to teach others how to cook, but he does have some modicum of pride and self-respect in his work. To hear Goro treat their cooking on the same level was...well, Akira is man enough to say that he actually did tear up from that. Unfortunately, being the CEO of a multi-industry company does mean that Akira has to pull quite a few late nights in the office or out at drinking parties. This does mean, of course, that he doesn't always get the chance to cook his own food after work.</p><p>He does not manage to escape Goro's cooking for very long, and Goro either does not see or refuses to see the many <em>many </em>hints that Akira tosses his way in the form of cookbooks.</p><p>It becomes a bit of a pastime for Akira to see just how far he can push Goro before Goro just yells at him. Or throws a paperweight at him. Or says “maybe you should shut up forever and also I want a divorce” at him. Something like that. <em> Anything </em> like that.</p><p>Akira says, “Since I’m working from home all the time to support this household, maybe you should be the one who cleans and cooks and does the laundry.”</p><p>Goro smiles and tilts his head cutely to the side. Instead of pointing out that Goro also has a full-time job at Shido Corporation, he simply says, “Of course, Akira.”</p><p>It takes three days before Akira tells him to stop the cooking, at the very least, because he's supposed to be pushing Goro, not himself. But that doesn’t diminish the workload on Goro’s end very much. Not only is Goro now in charge of the laundry and cleaning, but that’s on top of his actual job at Shido Corporation. Even if Goro doesn't have an emotional reaction, just seeing the perfect facade of Akechi Goro rumpled up by fatigue would be enough, but Goro does everything with a smile and a half. He never shows anything other than satisfaction and content, despite the fact that Akira treats him as little more than a maid at this point.</p><p>Not only that, but Akira seriously underestimated the amount of bullshit Goro is willing to put up with. He runs his shirt through garbage on the way home, and Goro barely wrinkles his nose. He simply takes the offending item between two delicate fingers and scrubs it clean in the laundry room sink. While eating dinner one day, Akira purposely gestures with his bowl of instant miso so hard that the entire bowl splashes onto the ground. Goro just smiles up at him, pushes himself onto his weary feet, and cleans it without complaint.</p><p>That’s another plan out the window.</p><p>Akira calls Ryuji on Zoom without putting his airpods in and complains to him <em> loudly </em> about everything. Video games, work, the weather, TV shows, the state of his hair, and on and on. Ryuji eats it all up and returns the energy back to Akira tenfold. </p><p>When Ryuji gets heated, he tends to yell, and Akira legitimately worries that the speakers on his tablet would blow out from Ryuji screaming about how much it <em> sucks </em> that he has to stay inside all day because otherwise the rain would get his new baseball mitt wet. He makes sure he works Ryuji up right when Goro enters the room to sweep. It's not a particularly difficult task.</p><p>Goro stops, his back bent slightly over the broom. He doesn't look up or move for a long while. Akira’s heart starts pounding faster. Is this it? Is this going to be the moment that Goro breaks his stupid mask of pleasantries and complacence? Is Akira accidentally about to stream his own murder to Ryuji?</p><p>But when Goro straightens up, there is a broad smile on his face and he says, “I’m happy that you have so many friends, Akira. It’s good to know that my husband is someone who can keep positive relationships in his life.”</p><p>Akira isn’t quite sure what Goro means by that last sentence, but it’s still a failure anyway. He wearily says bye to Ryuji while Ryuji is still ranting about proper maintenance of leather, and ends the call. Goro, still smiling, tilts his head at him curiously, and Akira just waves him off and settles back in his desk chair.</p><p>In desperation, Akira buys a red Tesla sports car and it cost a miniature fortune. It’s dangerously fast, disruptively loud, and garishly vibrant. As soon as the keys to it fell into his hand, he was in love. Judging by Goro’s preference for sweater vests, water, and antique magazines, he knows that if <em>anything</em> could get Goro to at the very least show some sort of frustration, it would be this. Regardless of Goro's taste in cars, it is quite scummy for a spouse to unilaterally make such a large financial decision without any sort of consultation.</p><p>There is a part of Akira that balks at how tyrannical a spouse he's being to Goro, who is really quite harmless despite being a retired grandpa in the skin of an attractive young man. But at this point, it's like poking a bear. He can't wait for the faintest grumble of a roar that would allow him to set the stick down and stop the game.</p><p>He calls Goro and tells him to meet him in the parkade, and when he rolls up in the car, he sees a minute twitch in Goro's expression. He can't tell at this point if he was biting down a frown or a smile, but even that is enough to send a thrill down Akira's spine. He ushers Goro in, and drives off towards the second trick up his sleeve.</p><p>Goro smiles and says, “This is a very fast car, isn’t it? Are you not worried about getting into an accident, perhaps?”</p><p>Akira glances at him when he’s stopped at a red light. His hands are loose and relaxed in his lap, and there is no real apprehension on his face. Not as if there’s much emotion on his face on a normal day anyway.</p><p>“It’s no big deal,” Akira replies jauntily. “I have a driver’s license.”</p><p>He takes Goro to Destinyland, where he drags him onto every single roller coaster he can find even after Goro, in his roundabout way, starts to complain about fatigue. He shoves cotton candy and hot dogs into Goro’s face, and places mouse ears onto his head. Every time he pats Goro’s head in an affectionate way, he makes sure he presses down as hard as he can, just so the cheap plastic can really <em> dig </em> into Goro’s scalp and behind his ears.</p><p>Goro’s expression strains minutely but he doesn’t say anything, even when Akira shakes his head like a blender. It's the same reaction he gave when he saw the Tesla, so at least Akira knows he's on the right track here. He just needs to find more ridiculously expensive and gaudy things to buy, and take Goro on increasingly annoying dates. There's a game plan in place, and all he needs is to press the green button.</p><p>The two of them return home, and Goro excuses himself into the bedroom. For the rest of the day, Akira doesn’t hear a peep out of him, and when he retires to bed for the day, he sees Goro huddled under the blankets. He stays up in case Goro wakes to throw up -- he had been rather green throughout the last part of Destinyland and in the car ride home -- but Goro sleeps on peacefully, judging by his soft snores.</p><p>The next day, Akira wakes up and the Tesla is gone. In its place is a vintage Volkswagen Beetle, once yellow but now with red paint haphazardly splashed all over it. It's ridiculously hideous, and there are scratches all over it that make it look like it lost in a fight against a tractor. He doesn't know where Goro found it, and he's momentarily impressed at how fast Goro managed to get the thing here without tipping Akira off, until he realizes just what <em>exactly</em> he's looking at.</p><p>“Where’s my car?” Akira demands. </p><p>“There’s your car right there,” Goro says. He looks just like he does every morning: the usual plastic smile on his face, a frilly apron over his pressed shirt and slacks, and his hair tied in a low ponytail. “You better hurry up, honey, or you’ll be late for work.”</p><p>Akira holds out his hand, shaking it in frustration. “Where are the keys to my <em> real </em> car? My Tesla? What is this?”</p><p>“Oh,” Goro says, putting a hand to his mouth like a scandalized housewife. “I’m <em> so </em> sorry, Akira. I went to the market earlier this morning to buy ingredients for breakfast. I apologize for wrecking your car -- I had to swerve to avoid an accident and hit a telephone pole instead.”</p><p>He pulls his phone out of his pocket and shows it to Akira. It’s a picture of the back of his Tesla, sinking into the water. He isn’t sure if this is a lake or an ocean or what, but it certainly doesn’t look like much of a telephone pole.</p><p>“That’s one strange telephone pole,” Akira notes flatly.</p><p>Goro’s smile widens. “Isn’t it? I'm <em>so</em> glad that I was able to get in contact with some of my peers at Shido Corporation. They were more than happy to give us this car.”</p><p>"Does this belong to one of your elderly senpais?"</p><p>"It belonged to the grandfather of one of my elderly senpais, yes."</p><p>Sensing that he isn’t going to get much more useful information from Goro, Akira snaps, “Just give me the keys.”</p><p>There is a pink yarn worm hanging from the keys that hadn't been on the Tesla keys, and it looks up at Akira beseechingly. He meets its eyes and curses it. </p><p>The car is janky and slow, and Akira doesn’t think it can push over 50 km/h without irrevocably breaking down. He arrives at the office, parks it in his usual spot next to Makoto’s Mercedes, and walks into the office. He pointedly ignores anyone who comments on the “strange ugly car” outside, and it isn’t until his lunch break when he’s poking at Goro’s shitty bento that he realizes something.</p><p>It’s the first time that Goro has done something <em> remotely </em> interesting in their marriage. This prank, albeit infuriating in how much money Akira blew on the car, is actually exciting. He doesn’t know what he can do to Goro back, but it’s fun to see how Goro got back at him for buying a car he obviously disliked.</p><p>“You look happy,” Makoto says suspiciously when he sees Akira cheerily swallow down a tasteless and tough piece of meat. “Did something good happen to you this morning? Does it have anything to do with your new car?”</p><p>“Yes,” Akira replies. “It has everything to do with that.”</p><p>But when he gets home, and Goro greets him with his usual “welcome back,” a bow, and a bland dinner, he starts to wonder. </p><p>“The new car is great,” he says, making sure he’s been as genuine as possible. “I liked it more than the Tesla.”</p><p>It’s an obvious bait, and if it was him who had to see it dangled in front of his face, he knows he would probably snatch for it.</p><p>“That’s good to hear,” Goro says gently. "I'll be sure to pass it along to my senpai."</p><p>His smile does not budge in the slightest, and Akira feels his hopes dashed away within the second. </p><p>This isn't exactly the dynamic he envisioned when he first met Goro, or when he first put his plan into place. Goro isn't even the type of person he pegged him down as in the earlier stages of their marriage. It's a bit strange. He doesn’t think he would have <em> really </em> enjoyed a prank war with Goro, because the two of them are in their twenties now and pranks have never really been Akira’s thing like they had been for Ryuji. But anything is better than this monotony.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Part II</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They say you don't really know someone until you live with them, and Akira learns that lesson the hard way.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>During Akira’s childhood, he was surrounded by helpers more often than he was surrounded by his own family. The Kurusu household had tons of helpers for various of reasons. There was a hired help specifically for washing their car. There was someone whose job was simply to water the rose garden in the front yard, as well as someone hired specifically to trim the hedges in the backyard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had almost made Akira uncomfortable, the way that he had never been allowed to interact with them. His mother had grounded him for almost a month and fired the gardener when she saw the kindly old man teach Akira how to plant tulips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Simply watching as someone else slaves over household chores is not Akira’s idea of a good time, and as he watches Goro bear the brunt of maintaining the apartment, he starts to feel almost insanely guilty. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He takes the vacuum cleaner out of Goro’s hands one day and ushers him to the couch, cleaning up the room in broad strokes. There isn’t much to do, considering how immaculate the place usually is from Goro’s daily upkeep, and Akira is done within minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now what do you want to do?” Akira asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Goro smiles up at him. “Now that you showed me the proper way to clean up this place, I suppose there’s nothing else much </span>
  <em>
    <span>to</span>
  </em>
  <span> do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira frowns. There is a passive sort of aggression in Goro’s tone that he had not been expecting. It’s not as if Akira tried to show him up or anything; it’s just expected of him as another person living in the household. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He tries to do the same thing the day after with helping Goro dry the dishes but Goro simply takes the cloth and bowl out of Akira’s hands and shoo him away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s a baseball game on,” Goro says, as if Akira has ever expressed interest in baseball throughout their time together. <br/></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira has, in fact, never watched or talked about baseball in his life outside of one time when he was in high school and he asked who Ichiro is. Yet, Goro pushes him towards the couch and seats him in front of the television. Akira doesn't know what exactly is going on except that he thinks Tokyo wins. <br/></span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re supposed to be partners,” Akira says once during dinner. At the very least, Goro doesn’t mind Akira helping him out when it comes to cooking. Despite his lacklustre reaction to Akira’s dinner in the earlier nights of their marriage, it seems as if even he admits that Akira’s culinary talents far exceed his. “We’re supposed to be equals.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm,” Goro says, cutting up his tamagoyaki with his chopsticks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If there’s anything around the house that I can help you with, please let me. In fact, why don’t we have a chore chart? I’ll take care of all the chores next week and you can take a break.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Goro smiles at Akira and Akira immediately feels his heart sink. “That sounds serendipitous. What a wonderful idea that is.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, Goro absolutely does not pay any attention to the chore chart that Akira tapes to the fridge, and continues to bear all the duties upon himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No matter how positive a person Akira is, he can’t keep deluding himself into thinking that one day, he’ll be able to make the partnership work. Goro refuses to open himself up to Akira, no matter if he's nice or mean, and at this point, it seems like their marriage of convenience really will end up with just that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Akira was younger, he had thought that he would be able to marry whoever he wanted to one day. He imagined that he would meet a beautiful man or woman, and the two of them would have whirlwinds of adventure together. Maybe they would go skydiving, or they would go backpacking throughout Europe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He can’t imagine ever doing any of those things with Goro, who seems more likely to spend a Friday evening doing his taxes over literally anything else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once or twice, Akira entertains the idea of hedging to Goro that they have an open relationship instead. At the very least, they could have a partner they actually enjoyed spending time with, while still maintaining their current status for political and business purposes. However, every time he hypes himself up to have the inevitably difficult conversation, one look into Goro’s sweet face makes him back down in embarrassment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>horrible</span>
  </em>
  <span>, living with Goro. It’s just boring. It’s a shame, considering how beautiful he is. If Akira saw Goro on the street, with the wedding band around his finger, he would probably genuinely be jealous of whoever managed to snare him in marriage. As it is, it’s more like being married to a doll or a robot. It’s creepy as heck, even though Goro hides his steel parts well enough behind a soft face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite Akira thinking that, his body doesn’t seem to have gotten the message, because he can feel the very insistent and distracting tightness in his pants as he looks up at Goro. He is probably making some stupid expression, with his mouth agape and eyes wide.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s hard to rub his brain cells together into a coherent thought. He had a late night. He just finished eating the bland dinner Goro scraped together for him from lunch leftovers. He had expected that he would be greeted by Goro’s soft snores, but what he got instead was an aggressive hand on the wrist and a shove onto the mattress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Goro pushes Akira deeper into the bed, a pleasant smile on his face. It’s the same smile that Akira sees on his face every day across the dining room table, and in the car. Somehow, seeing it above him while Goro’s hands are a vice on his shoulders is one of the more unsettling things Akira’s seen in his adult life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been waiting so long for this,” Goro says softly. He strokes his fingers down Akira’s arm, and presses a chaste kiss against the side of Akira’s mouth. “Take what’s rightfully yours.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It has indeed been a long time since they started living together, and Akira has always held the impression that Goro had some sort of hang-up about physical intimacy. It’s not as if Akira never thought about it, of course, but Goro was always oddly distant. Even sitting next to each other on the couch, there is usually enough space for one person between them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He isn’t sure what is compelling Goro, whether he read or watched something about “the proper duties of a spouse” or what. But something about the entire situation strikes Akira as very strange.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry,” Akira says. He pushes Goro away gently, his hands tightening minutely on Goro’s shoulders as he presses their foreheads together. “I’m just not ready yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He pointedly ignores the growing tent in his pants, and he hopes that Goro doesn’t point it out or notice it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Goro sits down next to Akira in bed, an unreadable expression on his face. For once, he doesn’t have a smile on his face. “That’s too bad,” he says. “I really thought that you would have trusted me after all this time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How can Akira trust someone who never shows their real self to him? He wants to say this but before he can even open his mouth, Goro turns away and lies back down on the bed. He curls up into himself and pulls the blanket up over his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Goro wakes up the next day and turns to Akira with his usual smile and “good morning,” there is no trace of awkwardness or disappointment in his face. As per usual, Akira gets sent off to work, Goro goes to his own work, and Akira spends his lunch break poking at the bland bento. He goes home, Goro greets him with a smile and a tasteless dinner, and the two go to sleep together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It returns to the normal routine of Goro handling almost all the housework on top of his own work, even though Akira suggested to him yet again that they set up a more fair division of tasks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is my work displeasing you?” Goro asked the third time Akira brought up the chore chart, and there was such a doleful look in his eyes that Akira found himself shaking his head before he even knew it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few days pass, until Akira starts to wonder to himself if he dreamed it all up. If somehow his mental wires got so crossed between his frustration at Goro’s personality and his sexual frustration at Goro’s ass that he gave himself a really weird almost-wet dream. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>However, about a week after Goro’s proposition, Akira wakes up to a heavy pressure on his chest and the feeling of cold sharp steel against his neck. When he opens his eyes, blearily blinking away the last vestiges of sleep, he sees Goro seated firmly on his stomach, a foreign look on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It takes Akira a second, staring up stupidly, to realize just what about Goro’s face was so strange to him. There’s no smile, for one, and his eyebrows are drawn. The gentle pleasantness that softened his red eyes are replaced by an almost murderous glint, and when he chances a look down, he recognizes what’s in Goro’s hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His husband is pressing a kitchen knife to his neck. When he swallows past the sudden thickness in his throat, he can feel the slightest sting, the bobbing of the Adam’s apple accidentally nicking the blade.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He must have started bleeding, because Goro smiles coldly and takes the knife away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oops. I didn’t mean to hurt you yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If it’s because of the car, I’m sorry. But we have the money to buy a really nice one again? I’ll even paint the new Beetle any colour you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Goro's smile immediately morphs into a glare and he brandishes the knife back closer to Akira’s throat. “It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> about the fucking car. Are you daft? What kind of question is that? Do you really think I’m going to kill you over a Tesla?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Considering Goro had been so incensed by the Tesla and the Destinyland date that he woke up early just to drive it into a river somewhere, he doesn't think it's an entirely bad guess. He’s not exactly sure why it took Goro so long to act on his murderous desire, since the incident isn’t even that clear in Akira’s memory anymore, but maybe Goro also needed to work up the nerve.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The silence must have been enough of an answer because Goro blinks down at him and shakes his head, muttering something like ‘unbelievable’ under his breath. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been sent in by Shido to kill you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shido? As in Shido Masayoshi, CEO of Shido Corporation and Goro’s father, he remembers. It’s odd that Shido would be interested in Akira’s life considering Akira has never done anything to offend the man. The only thing he can think of, </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe</span>
  </em>
  <span>, is his position as the CEO of KTS Trust, but he would have thought that Goro marrying him was enough of a foothold? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Did he write Goro into his will? Does Akira even have a will yet?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sensing that Akira’s attention is elsewhere, Goro tightens his grip on the knife and slams it down. He’s fast and strong, the force of the stab heightened by gravity, but Akira manages to get his hand around Goro’s wrist. It’s hard to shove him back, especially with their positions, and it’s difficult to do anything with Goro’s weight on him and the blanket tangling up his limbs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It takes some effort and the tip of the knife definitely comes close to doing some serious damage, but Akira manages to flip Goro off of him, throwing him to the side. Before Goro could rush at him again with the knife, Akira grabs Goro’s pillow and throws it at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s a pocketknife in his bedside drawer that he keeps there as a remnant of his wild delinquent youth, and he never told Goro about it. If Goro snooped around beforehand and confiscated the room of potential weapons, then he’s doomed, but thankfully, he sees the familiar red hilt when he opens it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He snatches it up and brandishes it. Goro stops, and stares at him, obviously not willing to risk an injury, fatal or not, just yet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Under the pale of the moonlight cascading into the room from the window, Akira finally has his first look at the man he married. He seems more alive than he ever did, with his long hair wild from the scuffle just now, and his red eyes glittering with a swirl of emotions, none of which Akira can name. The smile that he had thought permanently etched into Goro’s plump lips is gone, for once, and Akira absentmindedly notes how white Goro’s bared teeth are.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Was any of our marriage real?” Akira asks. He isn’t sure what he wants to hear, what would be better. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course not,” Goro scoffs. “Why would I have ever loved someone as irresponsible as you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ouch</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Someone as inconsiderate as you? You’re not the only person who works in the house, you know, and yet I was always the person who had to cook, and clean, and do the laundry. I was </span>
  <em>
    <span>itching</span>
  </em>
  <span> for the day that Shido would finally give me the order to kill you, so I could finally stop seeing that stupid love-struck face of yours every day.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira feels his brow furrow and he can’t help but shoot back, “You think I ever loved you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Goro blinks and to Akira's eyes, he seems to preen. “Well, of course. I was the perfect house husband. I watched hours upon hours of Showa drama to get everything perfect.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were a robot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Goro furrows his brows and opens his mouth, but he seems to think better of whatever it was he was about to retort. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop changing the subject,” he hisses. He steps closer with the knife and Akira raises his own as a warning. “I’m going to kill you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Never keeping his eyes off of Goro and never allowing his arm to waver, Akira reaches down and snags up his phone, tugging it free of the charger. He waves it tauntingly in front of Goro’s face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you try anything, I’ll call the cops, and they’ll be here within minutes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He supposes it doesn’t matter in the end if he calls the cops or not if Goro stabs him this second, and with a company as large and influential as Shido Corporation, he guesses that Shido would be able to bribe their silence even if they find direct evidence linking Goro to Akira’s bloody murder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s a bluff, but Goro lets out an angry snarl before he hurls the knife towards Akira’s head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira just manages to jerk out of the way, and he winces when the knife slices clean through his cheek. Blood gushes out and drips down his face, and the entire right side of his face feels like fire has erupted from the wound. The kitchen knife is embedded in the wall behind him, and the sudden attack was enough to knock him off-balance, his pocketknife loosening in his grip.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead of pressing his advantage, though, Goro turns and runs, snatching up his jacket from the chaise in their bedroom as he does so. It’s a distinctly amateur-ish move that screams of this being Goro’s first time pulling off an assassination. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira isn’t sure if he would appreciate it if Goro’s had experience in the past with marrying someone just to kill them, nor does he want Goro to be the type of person who would have lunged at him anyway. The latter especially, considering he would be dead by now, if Goro had ran for the knife while Akira was shaken up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He presses the sleeve of his pajama to his face, and within seconds, he feels the blood soak through the flimsy fabric. He walks to the kitchen where he remembers putting the first aid kit after Goro almost sliced his finger off while making dinner early on in their marriage, texting a quick message to Makoto the whole time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a tense moment, he wonders if he’ll see Goro in the kitchen, ready to ambush him -- it’s not as if there’s a scarcity of weapons available in the rest of the apartment, after all. But the kitchen is as immaculate as usual. One of the knives is missing from the knife rack, and he can see the faint glimmer of Goro’s silver wedding band on the counter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s no note under it. Nothing to indicate Goro’s emotional state when he took it off of his finger and placed it on the wooden counter. From its place on his own finger, he can feel the matching ring burn against his skin. It feels as if someone else is in control of his body as he picks up the ring, cradling it in the palm of his hand, and he places it into his pants pocket. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Out of sight and out of mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first aid kit is where Akira stored it last and he pulls it out, awkwardly bandaging himself up with the bathroom mirror. He looks like an extra from a horror film, with half his face splattered with drying blood, the stream of red dripping down his neck. He wipes away at it with warm water and paper towels, and the reek of rust permeates the entire apartment until Akira’s nose feels like it’s about to fall right off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s deep enough that he might need stitches for it, and the bleeding doesn’t completely stop, but he slaps some gauze on his face and lies down on the couch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He needs a drink. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go--” he calls out before catching himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right. He’ll have to go grab it himself. But he isn’t completely sure where Goro stores the bourbon that he pulls out from time to time for them both. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stares at the ceiling, and counts his heartbeats like they're sheep. It's not as relaxing as he would have thought, considering every once in a while, he remembers that only minutes earlier, he almost lost the chance to hear it ever again. By the time he hears the insistent ringing of the doorbell, with Makoto’s frantic voice calling his name from the other side, he already lost count.<br/></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Needless to say, Makoto doesn’t take it well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is not good,” she says. Somehow she managed to find a few packets of hot chocolate from the pantry and she gave Akira a steaming mug of the stuff. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Usually when Goro makes it, he makes it with hot water, diluting the powder until Akira needs to really close his eyes and savour it to get any hint of the sweetness. Makoto’s hot chocolate is made with warm milk, with marshmallows floating in it. It’s objectively delicious, and yet, Akira can’t drink more than a few sips of it before he sets it down on the table.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re telling me,” he says heavily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shido Corporation has been moving to buy more of our stock too, but they’re not the majority just yet,” Makoto says. She’s biting her nail -- a nervous tic -- and she’s frantically tabbing through her phone as if she can Google her way out of this mess. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They never will be,” Akira replies. It’s not as if Shido Corporation could just buy all of KTS Trust’s stock and take control of the company through there. Otherwise they wouldn’t have even sent in Goro. It’s a two-pronged attack to take over the business and Goro really is some sort of master strategist that all of it had been happening right under Akira’s nose, and yet he had been too focused on his marriage to even notice it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Makoto shoots him an exasperated look. “Akira, you need to call the police. I’m surprised you even called me first.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t want the police involved in this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> to get the police involved in this. Akechi tried to kill you. He was sent in to </span>
  <em>
    <span>assassinate</span>
  </em>
  <span> you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s as if she thinks if she enunciates her words harder and clearer, it would somehow penetrate through Akira’s skull easier, but it just makes the stress headache steadily building behind Akira’s eyes intensify. He squeezes the bridge of his nose and shakes his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Considering the influence that Shido already has, who’s to say the police won’t be corrupt?” He knows he hit the nail on the head when Makoto’s jaw clicks shut. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right,” Makoto says with a firm nod. “You’re absolutely right. You might even have been silenced as soon as you made that call.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not the more comforting or reassuring thing to hear, but if there’s one thing he can count on from Makoto it’s her stark and sometimes brutal honesty. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira watches as Makoto busy herself in the kitchen, wiping things down as if she’s the one who’s trying to dispose of evidence. Everything in the house is still ridiculously clean, as if Goro had scrubbed down the entire place with Lysol beforehand, but it seems like Makoto is more interested in keeping her hands and mind busy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m worried about Goro,” Akira says. It’s something he had been thinking about from around his eightieth heartbeat. “If Shido is the type of person who would send in a long-con assassin, then he would definitely have no qualms about killing Goro if he goes back empty-handed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Makoto doesn’t say anything. He can feel the waves of disapproval rising from around her already. She continues to clang around in the kitchen and after a few minutes, he hears her walk back towards him on the couch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have you ever heard of the suspension bridge effect?” Makoto asks. Her tone is so full of muted anger that for a second, Akira fears for his life. He may have escaped Goro, but it seems like he didn’t manage to escape Makoto. “Feeling that sort of way about someone who is trying to kill you is </span>
  <em>
    <span>insane</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Akira.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira shrugs, even though he knows that’ll only buy Makoto’s ire. “I just think he’s neat.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even after the attack, he wants to find Goro, offer him a hand, and walk home with him together, side by side, like the married couple they’re supposed to be. Goro had the opportunity to kill him tonight; even if Akira tried to fight him off, he doubts that his self-defense classes would be of much use against someone who had been professionally trained to kill, presumably. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He thinks back to the way Goro had looked at him, the murderous anger in his glare. The animated way he had aired out his grievances over Akira’s past transgressions. The weight of Goro’s body pressing him in the mattress from his assassination attempt and how it had been the exact same warmth as when Goro had tried to seduce him just a few nights earlier. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Akira,” Makoto says, a warning in her voice. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It takes Akira a second to parse that sentence but when he does, he can’t help but huff out a laugh. “And just what exactly do you think I’m thinking?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re probably thinking of how you want to find him again, aren’t you?” Makoto continues wearily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira smiles up at her. “That’s my duty as a husband, isn’t it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t expect me to help you,” Makoto warns, but judging by the tired look on her face, she probably recognizes the threat for the empty one it is. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s the first time that Akira finally saw the true face of his husband, ever since their marriage so many months ago now. He presses his hand against his pocket, where he can feel the comforting weight of Goro’s wedding ring. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the first time in a long while, he smiles genuinely, and for once, he doesn’t even hear Makoto’s long-suffering sigh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>X</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Akira walks into Jazz Jin in Kichijoji, he’s greeted with the soft crooning of the advertised performer. It’s a quiet and melancholy song, and despite the large number of patrons seated around in the establishment, he can still hear her deep voice over the gentle sound of conversation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His target is seated closest to the stage, sipping from a light glass of amber-coloured liquid. He’s always been fond of bourbon, considering it's the one vice he ever stocked their house with, but Akira’s never been sure if that was out of a personal preference, or because it’s the only thing that Shido ever drinks, according to Alibaba's research.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Goro looks the same as he always did, with his carefully combed hair and freshly-pressed clothes. The only difference that Akira can see is in his face -- drawn and tired, and yet more alive than any of the smiles Goro presented him during their time together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He waves off Muhen and sits himself down across from Goro, watching the startled expression on his face melt into clear irritation and disgust. In Makoto’s prediction for their encounter, she had thought that Goro would pull out a gun or a knife on Akira no matter where they were, no matter how many witnesses he had to get rid of. However, Goro’s hands don’t move from the table, though they ball into fists as if he’s barely restraining himself from punching Akira’s lights out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing here?” Goro asks, pitching his voice so low that Akira has to lean forward to catch every word over the jazz singer. “How did you find me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Akira responds, tapping the side of his nose with his finger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It hadn’t been easy, of course, because Goro hid his tracks well. It had taken Akira finding an international hacker and begging them for their help before he could find the barest traces of Goro on the net. His wallet is considerably lighter now, but compared to the constant weight of the rings against his neck, it’s nothing that Akira considers important.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The search for Goro had been long, and with every stone turned, it was like finding yet another treasure his husband had hidden from him. He learned of Goro’s life prior to becoming the official heir to Shido Corporation. He read reports of problematic behaviour from his time in orphanages and foster homes, of how he lashed out against adults and peers alike until no one ever gave him a fair chance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was harrowing, and it took Akira some time before he was finally able to buy back enough of KTS Trust’s stocks for Shido Corporation to cease being any sort of threat on that front, but now he finally feels like a man worthy of calling himself Akechi Goro’s husband.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Goro is still staring at him, a cold look in his eyes, and Akira can’t stop smiling. There is a lull in the jazz, the singer bowing down low to the applause while the musicians spend some time to rest their lips and fingers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>If there’s any chance for this, it’s now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira removes the chain from around his neck, the ring dangling from it a twin to the band he still has around his finger. He barely registers the look of shock in Goro’s open face as he drops down onto one knee. Doesn’t even acknowledge the surprised murmuring from the patrons around their table as the rest of the bar realizes just what is going on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He only has eyes for Goro, who is staring at him like he can’t believe what’s happening. It takes him a few seconds to clear his throat and steady his shaking voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Goro,” he says, presenting the ring to Goro’s face. “Will you marry me and come back into my life?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps it’s a trick of the dim lighting in the bar, or simply a result of wishful thinking and unfamiliarity with Goro’s true personality, but he swears he sees Goro’s lips twist in fond exasperation as he rolls his eyes.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>My Twitter is <a href="https://twitter.com/wafumayo">wafumayo</a> and my Tumblr is <a href="http://surelynotshirley.tumblr.com">surelynotshirley</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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